News and Announcements!

Facil News and Announcements

New Facil Version 4.5 Released 6/25/2007

Version 4.5 is a major update to Facil, containing dozens of significant new features and improvements.  Click here for the full list of what's new!  Current Tech Support subscribers will receive this new version automatically and at no charge.  If you have questions about version 4.5 or your Support status, please contact Becker Software, (520) 991-0909. 

Facil Web Interface from Access Tucson 10/25/2006

Access Tucson is offering the Facil Web Interface as a companion product to Facil.  This system of interactive web pages and database programming runs on a common open source web server (LAMP) with no proprietary software.  Facil data, including the program schedule, program descriptions, producers, play dates, searchable project library, and your class schedule, is displayed on your web site – automatically updated and fully interactive for the user to search and explore.  No Facil report or export to do – Facil Web Interface extracts data from the Facil database automatically!

Click here to view more details with screen shots or browse the Facil Web Interface live at www.accesstucson.org – click on “What’s on TV”, then “Program Guide” or “Search for Projects”.  For the Class Schedule, click “Classes”, then “Class Schedule”. 

Update to Facil 4.4 Released 8/2/2004

This update is distributed via email, and is free of charge to all current Tech Support subscribers.  It contains several new features and a number of enhancements and fixes.

New Features

• “Change Multiple Person IDs” utility in Administration Menu.  Because Facíl allows you to assign your own Person ID numbers, it's possible to mistakenly enter and save a number that is inappropriate - much higher then the highest previous ID number.  If this happens and the mistake is not immediately corrected, Facil will begin automatically numbering Person IDs starting with that high number, resulting in a large gap in the Person ID numbers.  This new utility function allows you to close such a gap in Person ID numbering by automatically reassigning ID numbers for a selected range of Persons and updating all related data.  See the new Help Topic “”Person ID Changes”

• “Combine Duplicate Person Record” utility in Administration Menu.  If you have accidentally created two Person records for the same Person, and have entered related data (class registrations, payments, projects, etc.) for both of them, this function combines the selected Person records and all the related data.  See the new Help Topic “”Person ID, Combining Duplicate Persons”

• Class Completion Certificates Export to Word Merge: A Word Merge file can be exported for the currently selected class by clicking the Export Word Merge button (blue ”W” Word icon) in the upper right corner of the Class Schedule or Class Registration form.  This export contains the Class Name, Student Name, Instructor Name, and Certification Date for all Certified registrants in the Class.  Using this exported file with the merge function in Word allows you to easily create a reusable design for class completion certificates and to produce certificates for a class with just a few quick steps.  See the new Help Topic “Class Certificates”.

Enhancements

• Reservations: When the Person is changed in a Reservation that already has Equipment reserved, the new Person’s training Certifications are checked against the Equipment.  The user is notified of any required Certifications not held by that Person. 

• Program Schedule and Auto Schedule: Project Notice Text is displayed when a Project, or a Program of the Project, is selected.  Other Project Notices (Status not Active, Past Completion Date) are not shown.

• Program Schedule: Toggle button to turn off/on the automatic feature of the End Time following the Start Time by 24 hrs.

• Program Schedule Chrono Report:  Added optional 24 Hr time format.

• Financial Reports – “Persons Paying/Not Paying” and “Persons Paying, Compared by Date Range”:  Added total amount paid to report.

• “Today’s Reservations” report now includes Equipment Description. 

• Equipment Report: Added Equipment Note

• Reservation Receipt: Added Project ID

• Payment Receipt and Class Registration Reminder: Added Person ID

• Volunteer Availability Viewer: Option to include only Active status Persons.

• Program Schedule / Channels: Channels can now be deactivated by putting "Inactive" in the Channel Description.  The Program Schedule display now has a “Show” option to include/exclude the Inactive channels from the display.

• Class Registration: The Email button for persons registered in a class now appears on both the Class Schedule and the Class Registration form.

Fixes

All the following issues have been corrected:

• When creating Programs using the “Add Planned Programs” function on the Project form, the default Project Description was not copied to the newly created Program records.

• When the Reservation form was open and minimized, using the link button from the Reservation Viewer did not maximize the Reservation form or select the desired Reservation.

• Appointment Books and Two Week Appointment Book forms were showing the record selector and record navigation buttons, which have no function on these forms.

• Two Week Appointment Book form was showing the Public Appointment Book format.

• Permission for Programs were not properly enforced when linking to the Program Form from the Program Viewer.

• Custom Permissions settings for Reservation form changed to show new Add Equipment button and remove old “Add Item” and “Add Kit” buttons.  If custom permissions for Reservation form had already been set, the new Add Equipment permission is set to the same value as the old Add Item permission.

• The Two Week Appointment Book Read Only permission didn't disable the New Reservation button.

• “Public” format of Volunteer Availability report was not following the selected report option to include/exclude the Street Address.

• An “Edit Conflict” error message appeared when a new Reservation was saved, then Equipment was added, and then the Add Equipment toggle was turned off.

• In the Program Schedule, Open time slots were not displayed if no channel was selected, i.e. when viewing all Channels.  The “Show Open” checkbox was not available (grayed out) in this circumstance.  Now Open slots are correctly displayed when the Show Open box is checked, with any or all channels selected.

• The Date Pattern form (used in Program Autoschedule and Reservation Duplication), the Today’s Reservation Report options form, and the Tape Label Report options form, all have the feature of saving their last settings and restoring them the next time they are used.  If the Local Settings for the workstation had never been edited, a “No Current Record” error occurred when using these forms because no record of settings for the workstation existed to store the options.  The Local Settings record is now created automatically the first time any of these forms are used.

New Playback Control Interfaces

Two additional playback control systems are now compatible with Facil program schedule data exports...

The Capital Networks "Audience.tv" system has a module to import Facil program schedule data for playback control.  Audience.tv also accepts specific Facil exports of the Program Guide and the Class Schedule for use with their character generator "bulletin board" function.

The Digicaster digital playback control system from D.Co now accepts exported Facil program schedule data through their ShowMaker scheduling software.

Facil Named Best Access Product of 2004 by Alliance for Community Media

The Alliance for Community Media has named Facil the "Best Access Product" for 2004.  The award was announced at the ACM National Conference in Tampa, Florida, on July 12th, 2004. 

Facil Prices Increase June 15th, 2004

Facil pricing has remained the same since the program's first release in November of 1999.  During those years, the program has expanded greatly in functionality, providing more and more utility to its users in four major new versions.  In keeping with the increased content of the system, prices for Facil licenses will increase as of June 15th, 2004 to the following:

Pricing for upgrades from one license level to another have always been equal to the difference in the original price of the two licenses.  In other words, if you buy a single-user license and then upgrade to a multi-user license, you will pay the same total amount as if you had bought multi-user originally - there is no penalty for getting started with the lower level license.  As of June 15th, 2004 upgrades will continue to be priced in that same way:

Facil Version 4.4 Released

The release date for the newest version of Facil, 4.4, is December 12th, 2003.  All current Tech Support subscribers will receive the new version of the program automatically and at no charge.  In addition to the major items listed below, many small improvements and fixes are included.  For a detailed list of all changes in version 4.4, see the Tech Doc "Update History".  Major new features of 4.4 include,,,

Improved Program Schedule Editing

Several changes to the Program Schedule improve performance, reliability, ease of use, and reporting accuracy:

• When the Start Time criteria is changed, the End Time criteria automatically changes to 24 hours later; I.e. the display defaults to the 24 hours following the selected Start. This eliminates the need to reset the End Time when moving from one day's schedule to another. To set a longer date range, simply set the Start first and then set the End to any desired date/time.

• The Edit function now allows moving an existing event more easily. When there is an empty space before or after the event, you can adjust the time of the event anywhere within the combined space. Note that the displayed "schedule space" includes preceding or following empty slots.

• Previously, it was not possible to schedule an event in an occupied time slot without first deleting the events to clear the space. In version 4.4, you can select a time slot containing or overlapping one or more existing events, and replace those events with the new one in a single step. Facil displays a confirmation dialog listing the events that will be replaced.

• It's also possible to change the time for an existing event to a completely different date/time, outside the selected schedule space. A warning message is displayed because this is an unusual action, but it is allowed. If the new time is occupied, the replacement confirmation is displayed when you save the event to the new time.

• The Signal Source (Live, Tape, etc.) for each event is now saved separately as part of the Program Schedule. This allows the same Program to be "live" in one scheduled play and "tape" in another. Previously, the Signal Source was always retrieved from the Program record, and therefore was the same for every play of that program. The Signal Source and Signal Source Detail appear in the edit form. When you select a Program, these fields are copied from the Program record, but you can then change them before saving the scheduled event. You can also select any existing scheduled event, edit the Signal Source information and save the changes.

Improved "Add Equipment" in Reservations

Adding individual equipment items or Kits to a Reservation has been made easier with a new design. The three command buttons "Add Items", "Add Kits", and "Off Time" are replaced with a single "Add Equipment" button.  Click "Add Equipment" and the reservation data on the left side of the form is replaced with a scrolling list of reservable equipment items. Use the mouse or keyboard to select and add any number of items while the equipment list remains in place. Selecting Kits or reserving equipment for Off Times is all easily done within the new, simpler, format.

Better Control Over Contact Information

In the Person form, the single Yes/No choice for the person to allow giving out their contact information ("OK to Give Info?") has been replaced with separate permission checkboxes for each piece of information - Home Phone, Business Phone, Fax, Email, and street Address. For example, this allows a person to give permission to distribute their email address while keeping their street address private. The Volunteer report "public" format, which is intended for distributing volunteer information to producers, now follows each of the five choices individually when listing volunteer contact info.

New Volunteer Service Tab on Project Form

This new tab lists all volunteer service for the Project, in chronological order. New volunteer service data for the Project can be entered. This is the same data shown on the Person form Volunteer Service tab, but grouped by Project instead of by Person. When a list of volunteers who worked on a particular project is turned in, it will be easier to enter the data on this form instead of the Person form.  Since data entry on this form will typically be done in a large batch, the form does not display the usual "Save Changes?" confirmation message; changes are saved automatically. Also pressing the Tab key while on the last field (Hours) moves immediately to the next record.

New and Improved Reports

• New ID Card choices: Three formats are now available for ID card printing. The first is the original format, for Avery 5362 self-laminating ID cards. The second format is a new layout for the same cards, but optimized for a horizontal logo design. The third format is for Avery "tear apart" business cards. These cards come in a variety of colors and surfaces, with ten perforated cards on a sheet, providing is a much less expensive alternative to the self-laminating Avery ID cards.

• Improved Equipment Usage Report: The report now includes Grand Totals of Hours and Cost of all usage data shown in report.

• New Tape Label Format: This new choice of tape label format uses the Avery 5161 or equivalent label. This standard address label is 1"x4", 20 per page. Most label manufacturers have an equivalent product to this widely available and inexpensive label.

• New Tape Inventory Report: This new report lists Tapes of all selected Statuses. The report can be sorted by Tape Location, by Tape Format, or by both in either order.

New Exports / External Device Interfaces

Exports of the Program Schedule and the Class Schedule are available for use with two "bulletin board" display systems, Capital Networks Audience.tv and Scala Infochannel. Visit the Capital Networks web site or the Scala web site for more information on these systems.

Individual Class Certification Dates

Each Class Registration now has its own Certification Date, replacing the Certified "Yes/No" field. This improves data accuracy when the person completes the class requirements on a date after the actual class. This change also allows more accurately recording certifications awarded before you started using Facil, using one "historic" Class for each Certification Code. Set any Start Date prior to all other classes in that Certification Code for this "historic" class, and you can correctly enter the individual Certification dates, even though they might be years apart.

Moving Class Registrations

Previously Facil only allowed moving an existing class registration to a class that had not yet taken place. Now you can move a registration to any class of the same kind that took place within a year previous to the current date, or to any future class.

Improved Handling of Extreme Multi-user Contention

Record locking has been redesigned to better handle extreme cases of multi-user contention for data, i.e. multiple users simultaneously saving Program Schedule Auto-scheduling or adding Kits to Reservations.

Facil Version 4.3 Released

Improved Email Functionality...

New Internal Email

Facil 4.3 uses its own internal system to send email, instead of depending on the installation of a separate email program on your computer. This has many benefits and allows important new email capabilities. Among the new features are:

• Email system is completely internal to Facil, no email program compatibility requirements

• Works with any standard Internet email provider (ISP)

• Send email to large numbers of addresses quickly and easily using Blind Carbon Copy

• Update the person's email address from the Email form

• Send Carbon Copies

• Customize Reply To address and From Name - set your own default for Reply To and From and/or change it when you send the email

• Create and save "template" text files with content for email messages you will send repeatedly. Retrieve that standard text when you send an email, and then customize as desired.

• Include attachments with single or bulk emails, any number of files

• Send HTML (Web Page) formatted email, including graphics

For a fully detailed explanation of all the new Email features, see the help topics "Email" and "Email Setup".

Email Reservation Receipts

Facil can now email a Reservation Receipt. Facil creates the email with all the necessary reservation information, plus additional text that you can define. You can edit the email contents and use other options as detailed above in "New Internal Email".

Email Class Registration Receipts

Email a Class Registration reminder when you enter a class registration, when you move a registration to a different class date, or at any later time. Facil automatically creates the email message. You can edit the message before sending it or use other email options.

Email Project and Program Play Date Reports

A list of play dates for any selected Project or specific Program can now be sent as an email. A selected "start date" allows restricting the report to only future air dates, or including all past and future dates. See the help topic "Email" for more details.

Mail Lists Form

This new form allows selecting any Mailing List and then displays an alphabetical list of the Persons on that list. You can use this form to more easily review who is on a list, and to delete or add multiple persons to the mailing list.

Data Export...

Data from a number of Facil areas can now be exported to an external file in a variety of standard data file formats.  The data that can be exported includes:

• Person data - export the data for persons selected using the Person Mailing form, or persons selected in any of the "instant" mailing lists including the Reservation Viewer, Project Viewer, Program Viewer, Volunteer Viewer, Class Schedule, or the Mailing List form.

• Organization data, selected in the Organization Mailing form.

• Project data, selected in the Project Viewer

• Program data, selected in the Program Viewer

• Program Schedule, selected in the Program Schedule form

• Equipment Inventory, using a new "Equipment Inventory Export" report

Choices of output format are:

• Microsoft Access (MDB)

• Comma Delimited (text file)

• DBase IV (DBF)

• Excel spreadsheet (XLS)

• Tab Delimited (text file)

• Word Merge (MS Word document, DOC)

See the help topic "Exporting Data".

Reservations...

Reservation Receipt Shows When Printed and When Changed

The Reservation Receipt now includes the date/time the Receipt was printed and, if the Reservation has been changed since it was originally made, the date/time it was changed and by whom.  This information is printed at the bottom of the receipt, along with the date/time the Reservation was originally made and by whom.

Reservation Duplicating: Date Pattern

When duplicating a Reservation, there are two new functions for setting the dates. A "1 month" button adds a new date a month after the last date. A "Set Date Pattern" button allows setting a series of dates in a repeating pattern, such as every other Wednesday and Friday, the 10th of every month, etc. This is the same date pattern function used in Program Scheduling.

Volunteers...

Volunteer Service Viewer

The Volunteer Viewer now has two tabs. The Volunteer Available tab is the same Volunteer Viewer from the previous version of Facil. That viewer is used to identify volunteers that are available for a particular volunteer area, subject, production type, or with a needed certification.

The new tab is the Volunteer Service Viewer. This new viewer allows identifying Volunteers who have performed services in a particular Volunteer area or in a selected date range. The listing shows the total volunteer hours for each person within the specified criteria. The persons are listed in descending order of total hours. A report or instant mailing list can then be generated. This viewer would be used to identify all volunteers who have qualified by working a certain number of hours, or to find the most active volunteers. See the new Help topic "Volunteer Viewer: Service"

Volunteer Service Report: New Totals

This existing report now has totals showing number of different Persons volunteering, total number of times volunteers worked, and total number of hours.

Maintenance...

Maintenance Scheduling

Each Equipment Unit now has a Next Maintenance Due Date field and a Maintenance Interval field. The Next Maintenance Due Date can be edited manually or by using the new "Reset Maint Due" button; this button sets the Next Maintenance Due Date to the date of the last maintenance record you entered plus the Maintenance Interval, or to any other date you specify.

A new "Maintenance Due" Report lists all equipment items that have a Maintenance Due Date prior to the date specified when running the report.

See the Help topic "Equipment Maintenance" for new information under the sub heading "Scheduling Maintenance"

Equipment Form, Maintenance Tab: Totals

The Maintenance tab of the Equipment form now shows totals of the number of maintenance events, labor hours, and parts cost, for the selected equipment item.

Program Scheduling...

Program Schedule form: Fill Gaps

A new feature in the Program Schedule form is the "Fill" button, which allows inserting a selected program into all the empty spaces - gaps - in the displayed schedule. Use a station ID, schedule crawl, or other variable length program to fill in all the odd gaps in one step. Options include setting a "Fill Limit" - the maximum size gap that will be filled. This allows filling the few odd seconds, while leaving open any larger empty spaces. A second option is to fill only to the next even half hour. Using these options together, you can fill all the spaces following programs that end slightly short of the half hour, while leaving open any available time slots that start at the half hour.

Program Guide report, improved HTML formatting

The previous HTML version of this report used the built in HTML conversion provided by Microsoft, which created unnecessary page breaks and hyperlinks. This has been replaced with custom programmed HTML formatting, resulting in a cleaner HTML formatted Program Guide.

New "Program Schedule, Chrono" Report

This new Program Schedule report is an alternative to the "Program Guide" report. Instead of the TV Guide style of half-hour time slots, this report simply lists programs in chronological order by their Start Time. A minimum length can be specified to exclude promos, station IDs, etc. Optional data in the report includes Program Description, Subject, and Play Length. The report can include one or all channels and any date range. The report can be output to standard report, HTML (web page) format file, or Word.

New "Now Playing" Report

This new report lists all Programs playing during a specified date range, sorted alphabetically by title. Options include a play date list for each program and grouping the report by Subject. Program Subject, Length, and Description can also be included. A setting for "minimum length" allows excluding promos, station IDs, etc from the report. The report can be output as a standard report, to Word, or in HTML (web page) format.

New "Playback Log" Report

Simplified Program Schedule report, designed for use by Master Control during playback. Includes space for Operator Comments, i.e. problem reports.

New "Media List" Report

This report can be used as a "pull" list when retrieving tapes from the library for playback. The report lists all source media for playback during a selected date range, for one or all Channels. Sorted by Signal Source, then by Tape Number (or Signal Source detail). Options allow choosing which Signal Sources are reported.

Playback Automation...

TiltRac Title Export

The TiltRac Title export function now references the new "last changed" date for Program data. When you export you can specify the last date you exported Title data to TiltRac. Facil will only export those programs that are new or have changed since the last update. If you have a large Program library, this greatly reduces the time to perform the export/import function.

TiltRac Media Types

A new reference list allows adding a new TiltRac Media Type. See the help on "TiltRac Playback Control" for details.

Sundance FastBreak Automation System Export

A new report, in the Export group, exports a data file of the Program Schedule for use with the Sundance Digital "FastBreak" playback automation system. Information on Sundance products is available at www.sundancedigital.com.

Reports...

Improved Tape Label Printing

New options improve the flexibility and control of Tape Label printing. There are now seven different tape label formats, including Avery VHS labels, and labels for DVD disks. The user has the choice of printing a single label for each tape, or a pair of labels for the tape and its case; previously all labels were printed in pairs. A "vertical print adjustment" setting allows fine control over the position of printing on the page. This compensates for variations in paper feeding from one printer to another. All option settings are automatically saved and restored for the next print run, improving ease of use. See the help topic "Tape Labels" for full details.

New "Today's Reservations" Report

This report provides a simple listing of active reservations that can be posted publicly, or just used for quick reference. The report is user defined by creating "headings" that include selected Equipment Types. For example, you might create a heading for Edit Suites and one for Camcorders. The report then lists the reservations for all the Equipment Types entered under that heading. The simple format shows the Start Time, Person's name, End Time, and optionally the Project Title.

New Project Expenditure vs. Budget Report

This report summarizes the expenditures for all Projects, or Projects of a selected Status (Active, Completed) and compares the totals to the Budgets. Report details include dollar totals for Active and Completed reservations, the Budget amount, and the percentage of the Budget expended. The report is sorted by the percentage of budget expended, starting with the Projects that are over Budget.

New Person Expenditure vs. Allocation Report

This new report summarizes Expenditures for all Persons of Active Status. Report details include the Allocation Start and End dates, dollar totals for all Reservations, totals for Completed and Active Reservations, the Allocation amount, balance, and percentage used. The report can be sorted by the Allocation Balance in dollars, the Allocation Balance percentage, the total Expenditures, or by Name. An option allows including the expenditure total for each Project the Person is producing.

New Maintenance Summary Report

This new report shows total Labor hours and Parts costs by Equipment Type and by Equipment Unit.

Demographic Report: Age Ranges

The Demographic report now includes the ability to report Age Ranges based on the Date of Birth, instead of entering and saving an Age Range, which would be out of date as time passed. The desired Age Ranges for the report can be defined in the Admin menu, Demographic Setup.

New Program Schedule Reports

See the "Program Schedule" section of this document for information about new reports relating to the Program Schedule.

Other Changes...

Who Changed The Information and When

The Person, Reservation, Project, and Program forms now display the date and time of the last change to that data and who made the change. This data is recorded automatically whenever edits to the form are saved. The Reservation form also shows the date/time and who made the Reservation initially.

User Log Out

The "Log In New User" button on the main menu has been replaced with a "Log Out" button. Click "Log Out" and all selections on the main menu are disabled except "Exit" and "Log In". A user can Log Out and leave the Facil workstation for another user to Log In, all without closing the program. This makes a shared workstation secure and insures that permissions are enforced, without the delay of shutting down and restarting the Facil program.

Person Form, Expenditure Tab: Improved Performance

The calculation of expenditures has been rewritten to be approximately twice as fast.

Adding a new item to Reservation using Bar Code during Checkout

This existing function added a new item correctly, but it did not record the Tag Number in the Reservation. Users found that they had to bar code scan the new item twice - once to add it and again to record the Tag Number. The Tag Number is now entered when the item is added.

Organization form - validate Email addresses

The Email address in the Organization form is now validated for correct format, as it is in the Person form.

Program Form: Tape Number Required

Previously a Tape Number was required on any Program form where the Signal Source was set to Tape. Now, the Tape Number is required only when the Signal Source is Tape AND the Received date is filled in. This allows creating a Program record with a Tape Signal Source before the actual Tape is received.

Program Form: Warn if Replacing Existing Tape Number

When the "new tape" button (the yellow plus) is clicked and a Tape Number has already been entered, a warning message explains that this will replace the current Tape assignment.

Person Notices for Payments

Person notices (status not Active, Notice Text) are now displayed when receiving a Payment.

Address Export - Missing Address Line #3

The export of Person addresses to a Word Merge file did not include the third line of addresses. This has been fixed.